Olivia Nicholls


Olivia Ann Nicholls is a British tennis player who specializes in doubles. On 23 June 2025, she peaked at world No. 23 in the WTA doubles rankings.
Nicholls has won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour and 19 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.

Early life and education

Nicholls was born at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, the daughter of Ian and Ann Nicholls. She grew up in the Norfolk village of Acle. She completed a BSc in Sports Science with Management at Loughborough University.

Career

At the 2017 Summer Universiade held in Taipei, Taiwan, she won the bronze medal in women's doubles, along with Emily Arbuthnott.

2022: WTA Tour debut and first title

She made her WTA Tour debut at 2022 Lyon Open in the doubles draw, partnering with Alicia Barnett. The duo finished runners-up, losing the final to Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva in straight sets. Nicholls and Barnett won the doubles title at the Championnats de Granby, defeating Harriet Dart and Rosalie van der Hoek in the final which went to a deciding champions tiebreak.

2023: Wimbledon mixed doubles semifinal

At the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, partnering with Jonny O'Mara, Nicholls reached the semifinals in the mixed doubles, losing out to eventual champions, Mate Pavić and Lyudmyla Kichenok.

2024: Second WTA doubles title, top 60, British No. 1

Alongside Olivia Gadecki, Nicholls won the doubles title at the ATX Open defeating Katarzyna Kawa and Bibiane Schoofs in the final.
Prior to the US Open, where she reached the third round for the first time with new partner Tereza Mihalíková, Nicolls reached a ranking of No. 57 on 19 August, making her the No. 1 British female doubles player.
Nicholls and Mihalíková reached back-to-back quarterfinals at the China Open and at the next WTA 1000, the Wuhan Open.
At the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November, Nicholls and Heather Watson lost to Mihalikova and Viktória Hrunčáková in the decivisve doubles match as Great Britain were eliminated in the semifinals by Slovakia.

2025: First WTA 500 title, Australian Open mixed doubles SF

Partnering Henry Patten, Nicholls reached the mixed doubles semifinals at the Australian Open, defeating top seeds Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani in the second round and then Jackson Withrow and Irina Khromacheva in the quarterfinals. They lost to John-Patrick Smith and Kimberly Birrell in the last four.
In March, alongside Tereza Mihalíková, Nicholls made it through to her first WTA 1000 final at Indian Wells, overcoming fifth seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Zhang Shuai in the semifinals. Despite losing the championship match to Asia Muhammad and Demi Schuurs, she moved up to a career-high No. 31 in the WTA rankings.
In May, Nicholls and Mihalíková ended runners-up at the WTA 125 Trophée Clarins, losing to Irina Khromacheva and Fanny Stollár in the final.
Teaming up with Henry Patten, Nicholls reached the mixed doubles quarterfinals at the French Open, but pulled out at that stage due to a hand injury she had sustained.
Alongside Mihalíková, she won her first WTA 500 title at the Berlin Open in June, defeating top seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the final which went to a deciding champions tiebreak. As a result she reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 23 on 23 June 2025.
Nicholls ended 2025 ranked at world No. 26.

Performance timelines

Doubles

''Current through the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup finals.''

WTA Tour finals

Doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1[2022 WTA Lyon Open – Doubles|]Lyon Open,
France
WTA 250Hard

ITF Circuit finals

Doubles: 39 (19 titles, 20 runner–ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0GB Pro-Series Bath,
United Kingdom
W25Hard